les Anglais à l'aise à l'oral

On the 29th of January, one of our Year 7 Wellbeing classes got a surprise. A camera crew from France 2 (London division) came to film their lesson. The topic of the news report was 'Public Speaking: at ease orally'. It focused on how British schools do it better than French ones, preparing students from a young age to speak with ease in public. The French President, Emmanuel Macron, wants to reform the French A-level speaking modalities.

Several shots were taken and two students as well as Mr Sauvajon were interviewed. The news report was shown on Friday 2nd February on France 2, the first public channel in France, and it was seen by more than 5 million people in France and elsewhere as it was shown on TV5 Monde as well.

Our St Martin's feature starts at 01:45

The script is as follows:

A requirement imposed on all students from all walks of life, such as those in a school for girls in a popular neighbourhood of South London. Mr Sauvajon is their Language and Wellbeing teacher. When he got to the UK he spotted straight away the difference with what he knew in France. 'I was very impressed by my year 7 students. they came to us with a confidence I was not expecting. As they were coming from primary school, I was expecting them to be a lot more shy. There is also an English GCSE speaking exam each student has to undertake. They have to speak 20 minutes with a teacher. As it is filmed, they all have to reuse all the techniques and tips seen in class to succeed at that exam.'